is Japanese idol group AKB48's debut single, released independently through AKS on February 1, 2006. The single was the highest debuting girl group single since Morning Musume's "Morning Coffee", released in 1998. The song was composed by Hiroshi Uesugi and written by Yasushi Akimoto. The song was re-recorded and released again in 2008 as the group's final single with major label DefStar Records. The song was sung by the original 21 members of AKB48 that later formed Team A. Center of 2006 version was Minami Takahashi. while 2008 version was Minami Takahashi and Atsuko Maeda. Promotion The launching of "Sakura no Hanabiratachi" was held on February 1, 2006, at the AKB48 theater. During this event, a video presentation of the events that occurred during the formation of Team A was shown. 20 Members of AKB48 Team A then performed "Sakura no Hanabiratachi" and "Dear My Teacher," and later introduced themselves one by one to the public. Notable during this event was the absence of Tomomi Ōe due to school activities. The song was used as the theme song of the TBS drama Desu yo Nee., along with being used in videophone commercials for NTT docomo. The B-side "Dear My Teacher" was used as the ending theme song for the variety show Mitake Uranai. The re-released version had several tie-ups. The lead track was used as an ending theme song for the variety show Arabiki-dan, while the B-side "Saigo no Seifuku" was used as an image song for the 26th Yokohama International Women's Ekiden. 2008 version The Team K and Team B members were invited to join in creating a new 2008 version of the song, . A poster was given for a purchase of any version of this single at the AKB48 Theater Café. Since only one member from AKB48 was featured on each poster, 44 different types of posters were available. These posters were handed out randomly to any purchaser. Anyone who had collected all 44 types had been invited to a Spring Festival with AKB48. DefSTAR Records later announced, however, that this offer would be cancelled, due to the apparent scandal of attracting purchasers to effectively buy a special reward by spending an inordinate amount of money chasing down all 44 versions of the poster. A special B-side is featured on the type B limited edition, where the song is rearranged into the form of a school choir